Transparency



(No Model.) W. READ, Jr. TRANSPARENCY.

tented Dec. 6,1881.

Z72 verzi-ar. 71 52521 71 Bead,

M'irzesses: fiymmu UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM READ, JR, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE NEW YORK TRANSLITHOTYPE COM- PANY, OF NEW YORK.

TRANSPARENCY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 250,576, dated December 6, 1881.

Application filed May 26, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM READ, Jr., of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Transparencies, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide, at small expense, a durable and ornamental transparency for the decoration of windows,

and for other decorative purposes, which shall not be greasy on its surfaces, like oiled paper, nor brittle, like glass or porcelain.

To this end the invention consists, first, of a transparency formed of two absorbent sheets of paper or other absorbent material and an intermediate layer or film of material which permeates the sheets and renders them sufficiently transparent and forms thin films upon their outer surfaces, which films harden by contact with the air, and are clear and dry, and exclude air from the intermediate portions of the sheets and keep the said permeating material in a moist condition, so that the article does not become opaque and brittle.

It further consists in a transparency having a peculiarly-constructed and applied marginal metal frame or mat, all which I will now proceed to describe.

Of the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 0 represents a front view of a transparency embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents an enlarged section on line 00 00, Fig. 1. Figs. 3

and 4 represent views of parts in detail. Fig.

5 represents a section on line y y, Fig. 3.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In carrying out my invention, I take two layers, a a, preferably of paper or other suitable absorbent material capable of absorbing the coating hereinalter describedsuch, for instance, as textile fabrics-one or both of said layers being, if desired, suitably decorated by lithography or otherwise. I then apply to the inner snrtace of one or both of the layers a 5 coating, b, of a compound or substance adapted to permeate the layers and render them practically transparent. I have found that a material composed chiefly of balsam fir and (No model.)

turpentine, made into a mixture of about the consistency of varnish, will efi'ect the abovenamed results. The coating being applied, the layers are pressed together, so as to form practica-lly one sheet. The portion of the permeating material which reaches the outer surfaces of the sheets becomes hardened by exposure to air and forms thin air-proof protecting=films, which hermetically seal the intermediate material and prevents it both from escaping and evaporating, and also from becoming opaque and brittle, thus insuring the durability ofthe 6o sheet. The hardened outer films are neither greasy nor sticky, and do not soil nor adhere to anythingv with which the article may be brought in contact. I prefer to provide the sheet thus formed with a frame or mat by folding a strip of sheet metal, 0, over each edge thereofand interlocking the ends of the strips,

as shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4. This arrangement of the ends insures the contact of one of the folds of each strip at the interlocked end with the adhesive surface of the sheet, (the strips being applied before the permeating material has dried,) and the strips are therefore more firmly secured at their corners than they would be if they were not so interlocked. I also provide the sheet with a loop, I, composed of a strip of tape or ribbon, the ends of which are clamped by one of the strips 0 against the adhesive surface of the sheet, and are firmly secured by the combined action of the clamping-strip and the adhesive coating.

I propose to make and sell the sheets prepared as above described, and with or without the frame, as an article of trade for use of printers and others.

1 claim as my invention-= 1. A transparency composed of two sheets of paper or other absorbent material, and an interposed layer of balsam fir and turpentine, or other absorbable or transparent compound 0 of like nature, which permeates the sheets of paper and renders them sufficiently transparent, and forms films upon their outer surfaces, which harden by contact with air, and exclude air from the intermediate portions of the sheets 5 and keep the permeating material in a moist condition, thereby preventing the article from becoming opaque and brittle, substantially as described.

2. A transparency composed of superposed layers of paper or equivalent material, having a metallic marginal frame or mat composed of strips of sheet metal folded over the edges of the transparency and interlocked at the corners thereof, as set forth.

3. A transparency composed of superposed layers of paper or equivalent material, having a metallic frame made as described and a loop inserted at its ends, between one of the sides of the frame and the surface of the transparency, as set forth.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 21st day of May, A. D. 1881.

WILLIAM READ, J R.

Witnesses:

O. F. BROWN, DANIEL MORRISON. 

